BATMAN

Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you a story.
There is one boulder problem I have been too afraid to attempt since I found out it existed in Leavenworth. It's name... is Batman. I was never afraid because of anything the climb had to offer, except for its name. You see, I love batman. I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with him and would never want to disappoint him. So, I never tried the problem in fear that if I blew balls all over the climb, I would disappoint. Finally, Friday, June 19th, 2009, with the help and encouragement of Brian, I gathered the gonads and summoned the gumption to go visit my idol. I stood in awe at this superproblem I had built up in my head everytime I drove past it. Brian and I set the pads, and quickly sussed out the beta. I threw myself at the problem with reckless abandon, wanting so badly to prove to the dark knight that I was ready, that I was worthy of this send. I am fortunate to say that even though I did not complete the problem (fell off the top a bunch of godforsaken times), it was everything I've imagined. It is rare that a line holds the attention of Brian and I for any significant amount of time, since we both suffer from a severe case of I'mboredalready-itis, but this one captivated us, and we will be back to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.
-Mike

Headspace

After a wonderful history with the beautiful boulders of Leavenworth, Brian and I found ourselves in a little bit of a psych slump. Since we were feeling a bit down, we decided to check out a couple boulders we had never seen before. So we called up Nathan, and trekked over to Gold Bar to visit the Camp Serene and Five Star boulders. After a long drive, we found the Camp Serene boulder. It was big and beautiful, and had some amazing quality problems, all of which came with a bit of an adrenaline rush!

Nathan on Ryan's Problem

Somebody had an accident

We managed to dispatch 4 of the 5 problems, and all got dangerously close to the super "chemical imbalance". Definitely added to the tick list. After spending a few hours at the Camp Serene boulder, we decided to head up to the Five Star Boulder. I had heard a ton of spray about this boulder, and it definitely did not disappoint. It is a HUGE boulder, with about a dozen quality problems for those who are willing to test their headspace. We got a few done, but have plenty to go back to. Ground Zero will go down soon...

A video of Brian and I on Sobriosity, one of the Five Star's less highball lines

Enjoy!

Mike

Finally a post by me!...you know.... Brian...

Finally after months of not climbing, ok just a few weeks, I have started to climb again! Today Mr. Dove, Nathan Joyner and I decided to go out to Goldbar and hit up some of the boulders that we haven't climbed on yet. Lets just say that they were AMAZING! First we went ot the Camp Serene Boulder, which is sadly all by its self. :( All of the climbs on this boulder have been put near the top of my favorites list. After we were shut down by the last move of Chemical Imbalance we decide to hit up the 5 star boulder. I didn't think it was going to be as gigantic as it was.. but it was nothing less than ginormous! Mike, Nathan and I spent some time on Sobriosity and the Five Star Arete. Both of these polar opposite lines were extreamly fun and if you ever get a chance you should try them. By this point Nathan and I were beat, Mike however, decided to give Ground Zero a try... and only one try... We decided after his first crazy fall that we needed more crash pads... Which will be ordered soonly!

Brian

Brian's Back

Finally, after a ton of schedule clashing and music playing, Brian is back climbing again! Brian, AJ, David, and I hurried to Leavenworth for a nice afternoon sesh. We started in the swiftwater parking lot to warm up.

Here's Brian warming up a bit

AJ doing some pebble crushingAfter a solid warm-up, we went to check out Slingblade. Brian and I had tried this problem a few times last year, but got shut down by the first move. We came back with a vengance today, and both sent. I must say this problem has easily been added to my top-ten climbs EVER! It's just one of those climbs that's physically demanding, but also demands your attention till you're on top of the boulder. World Class!

Me on Slingblade Brian crushing slingblade After our send train was over at slingblade, we went to go check out AJ's project: Han Solo's Lightsaber Tournament, which he effectively crushed, as AJ usually does.

doing what he does bestOnce AJ topped out Han Solo we made a quick run to the sword area to try out resurrection again. We didn't quite get it, but we nabbed ascents of "go baby", which is directly right of resurrection. David had never seen the sword before, and was so inspired, he flashed it! It was awesome to see him push his mental limits, and overall the day was full of projects becoming memories.

Brian on Resurrection Brushin' and Sussin'David making the insecure transition to the sword slabGreat day!

Mike

Busy Weekend

School's almost over, and I have three concerts to play this weekend. I had a concert today, I have an orchestra concert tomorrow, and another orchestra concert on Monday. Needless to say, this weekend has already been, and still will be, crazy busy! Kinda bummed cause I haven't been able to climb with Brian a ton cause these past couple weeks he's had other olbigations. Bummer. Thankfully, I had a free evening so I jet to L-town with Karlyn, Max, and Emily. On the ride down, we reminisced about "Twilight Zone". Freakin' awesome show! Our first stop was the scrambled eggs boulder, which we warmed up on. I also warmed up on this problem called "the dildo". Problem was sicknasty! Awesome crimps and sweet heel hooks! After that we made our way to the 420 boulder, which I had never been to before. The problems on this boulder were sweet! The feature problem on this boulder is a tall slab with a bit of an insecure start, but then absolutely perfect granite edges up higher. It was an awesome climb that I had to repeat a few more times to get the full effect of how cool it was! There was however, a stupid bolt up on top of this 15 foot Vo. Dumbness. Anyways, other than that, the trip was awesome and after the 420 boulder we headed to the straightaways. I did a couple problems I hadn't been able to pull off before, but couldn't nab "WAS"... so pretty! It will be mine soon... I hope!
Stay psyched!
Mike

What's in a Secret?

Yesterday, I went to this "new" climbing area a few of my friends were telling me about in Entiat. I had heard rave reviews about this place, so I was psyched! Visions of unlimited potential danced in my head. So Max, Nathan, Eric, Rick, and I all packed up in Rick's Ford Exploder and made the two-hour drive to this area. The first boulder Max brought us to was absolutely astonishing! It was this massive tooth, with climbs on all sides. It had slab, overhang, and even a ginormous dyno! "This is perfect! This is all I had dreamed of," I said to myself. After playing on that boulder for a bit, we went to an area a bit further up-canyon. We stopped, and as I stepped out of the Exploder, I saw so much rock I had no idea where to start. I started off with some of the established problems, but couldn't wait to trek uphill to see what I could find. What did I find? Not much. Out of all this expanse of rock I saw before me, there were very few rocks that were big enough to classify as boulders (lots of babys), and even then, there wasn't a ton to climb. The visions I had earlier were slowly fading. After a quick trek down to the river for a break, we went to check out some supposed boulders even farther up-canyon. We combed the forest and found... not much. After another hour of hiking (it was 90+ degrees outside) we left. Now, don't get me wrong, I had a ton of fun exploring this generally undeveloped area, and the few boulders I climbed were pretty incredible. Definitely a worthwhile place to be. The scenery was incredible and most of the rock I saw was impeccable. It was also very nice to take a break from the Leavenworth climbs I have been falling off, and go fall somewhere else. But what struck me is that one of my friends told me to keep this area "on the DL" in hopes that these secluded gems wouldn't turn into the next Leavenworth's Icicle Canyon. It won't. Granted, I didn't do a ton of exploring, and if someone was really motivated and wanted to work their way down from the cliffline, they could probably find some rad problems. There definitely is some potential, but Icicle it is not, and Icicle it most likely never will be.
Stay Psyched!
-Mike

Poor Tree

Ah, so the tree... it was quite an adventure actually. Josh, Jesse, and AJ got a little bored of climbing and found a 40 foot overhang. Josh decided to throw a little branch off the top, and the three of them thouroghly enjoyed the results. So, for the next half hour, they struggled to get a 25 foot fallen tree to that cliff. Seriously, they worked their butts off and had some very epic moments (i.e. almost being crushed by the tree) but after a long struggle, they finally got the tree to the edge of the cliff...

Enjoy!